AT&T Acquires Xanboo, Developer of Home Automation Platform

CE Pro Exclusive: Xanboo, one of the early developers of remote home monitoring and control, is acquired by AT&T, one week after Motorola buys competitor 4Home. Will AT&T's home automation effort work this time?

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

LinkedIn

In 2006, AT&T marketed the Xanboo Remote Monitoring system. A basic kit for monitoring cameras and security sensors sold for $199 with a $9.95 monthly fee.

AT&T (NYSE: T) is the latest service provider to join the home automation movement, CE Pro has learned. The company has acquired Xanboo, one of the original platform developers for remote home management.

And in 2008, Sigma Designs, which provides audio/video chipsets to most of the leading cable providers, bought Zensys, provider of Z-Wave wireless technology for home control.

As with all of these deals, AT&T probably hopes to hold onto its TV, Internet and mobile phone subscribers by offering new services for their existing products—and charge some extra fees to boot.

Xanboo technology enables users to remotely monitor and manage their home’s security, lighting, thermostats and other devices via the Internet, cellphone and other communications devices. Like iControl, uControl and 4Home, Xanboo has developed its own products in the past, but always intended to market its platform to third-party service providers.

AT&T and Xanboo: Long-Time Partners

Nothing official about the Xanboo acquisition has been released, and AT&T officials have not yet been available for comment.

McCall Butler, a spokesperson from AT&T’s PR company, does confirm the acquisition to CE Pro. He tells us:

AT&T sees synergies between Xanboo’s technology and our offerings for consumers and small businesses. Xanboo’s monitoring services are a natural extension of our high speed Internet, video and voice offerings and a good fit for our wireless services.

This statement echoes the sentiment of AT&T’s 2006 press release, announcing its adoption of Xanboo technology for a “new generation of converged, IP-based services.”:

[2006] Ultimately, AT&T will use this unified network to enable virtually seamless connectivity anywhere, anytime, on almost any device, giving consumers what they want, when they want it, wherever they are. Increasingly, services will be accessible from any of the “three screens” that many consumers value most: the TV, PC and cell phone.

AT&T offered basic Xanboo service to Cingular customers back then. The products included Xanboo’s Internet gateway and proprietary RF wireless devices – primarily cameras and security sensors, with a handful of other devices such as lamp modules and environmental sensors.

The interface was fairly rudimentary, allowing access via the PC, a Cingular wireless phone or an Internet-enabled PDA with Java.

The program was short-lived and CE Pro never encountered any success stories with the offering.

In fact, in our 16 years of covering the home automation industry, we have never encountered any success stories of remote home management systems that require a monthly fee – unless that fee is an add-on to a security service a la ADT Pulse.

About Xanboo

When Xanboo hit the scene in the early 2000s (the company was founded in 1999) there were already several established home-control vendors and many promising startups.

But Xanboo had one particular claim to fame: its cloud-based home automation architecture.

AT&T not talking ...
Not to me at least
I couldn’t get anything out of AT&T about the acquisition. Spokesperson McCall Butler tells me, “I’m not sure I’ll be able to add much more for your story. It’s too early for us to address our specific plans for Xanboo. We’ll make an announcement when we’re ready to discuss our go-to-market strategy, and that will be a better time for you to speak with someone.”

The new Xanboo is much different today. While it had one of the weaker user interfaces in the early days, today’s UI is elegant and the platform is much more flexible – right on par with its competitors at iControl, uControl and 4Home

Motorola, AT&T and Lantronix are among Xanboo’s early investors. In fact, Motorola has marketed retailer-oriented Xanboo systems for several years. The product, called HomeSight, is still available online. A Xanboo-based solution from Shell, the ill-fated HomeGenie, also was marketed for a brief time.

CE Pro will provide more details on the acquisition when they become available.

Every year our editors recognize the most advanced products in the professional installation market. Wouldn't you like to tell your customers that your products are among this exclusive group? Enter the CEPro BEST Product Awards and give your sales team something to shout about. Early bird pricing ends May 24.

About the Author

Julie Jacobson is founding editor of CE Pro, the leading media brand for the home-technology channel. She has covered the smart-home industry since 1994, long before there was much of an Internet, let alone an Internet of things. Currently she studies, speaks, writes and rabble-rouses in the areas of home automation, security, networked A/V, wellness-related technology, biophilic design, and the business of home technology. Julie majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, spent a year abroad at Cambridge University, and earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a recipient of the annual CTA TechHome Leadership Award, and a CEDIA Fellows honoree. A washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player, Julie currently resides in San Antonio, Texas and sometimes St. Paul, Minn. Follow on Twitter: @juliejacobson Email Julie at julie.jacobson@emeraldexpo.com